Science Policy Around the Web – August 14, 2015

The Los Angeles–based Beagle Freedom Project (BFP) animal advocacy group filed a complaint on Monday with Ohio State University (OSU) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) alleging that a NIH-funded OSU laboratory has violated NIH rules concerning the use of dogs in biomedical research. In the past, U.S. research facilities would procure dogs from Class B dealers, who would sell animals that they obtained from pounds, breeders and “random sources”. The latter are associated with stolen and abused pets. In 2013, the NIH announced that researchers using the agency’s funds could not procure dogs from Class B dealers, as of October 1, 2014, and could not use such dogs in projects funded in 2015 and beyond. According to BFP, OSU has violated both guidelines. In their complaint, BFP provided records suggesting that the university obtained four class B dogs on October 6, 2014, and that one of the class B dogs was still alive as late as July of 2015. OSU has disputed both accusations and provided evidence to ScienceInsider indicating that the dogs were purchased before the NIH rule went into effect, on September 11, 2014, and said that no class B dogs are currently involved in laboratory research.

BFP has gathered this evidence against OSU through a unique crowdsourcing technique. Public supporters browse the BFP’s website and its list of more than 1200 cats and dogs kept at 17 public research universities in the U.S. and “adopt” one of these animals. BFP then sends supporters a Freedom of Information Act request form, which they fill out and send to the university housing the animal. Any information collected (health records, protocols, necropsy reports, etc.) is forwarded to BFP. Through this strategy, the animal advocacy group has generated hundreds of public records requests to engage the public and pressure universities to release animals and/or end their research. (David Grimm, ScienceInsider)

Two scientists have sought to prevent journals from retracting or expressing concern about their papers this year. But U.S courts have dismissed their legal bids. Guangwen Tang from Tufts University in Boston, MA had hoped to stop the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition from retracting her 2012 paper on the value of providing Golden Rice to children. This rice is a genetically engineered form of rice that is rich in b-carotene for use as a source of vitamin A. Following Tufts University ‘s discovery that parents had not been informed that the rice provided to their children was genetically modified, the journal decided to retract her paper and did so after the court’s ruling. Mario Saad from the University of Campinas in Sao Paulo, Brazil had also hoped to prevent the journal of Diabetes from publishing expressions of concern about four of his papers. The journal said online that it had been alerted to potentially manipulated images in his studies and that was concerned about the reliability of some of his data. The first investigation launched by the University of Campinas found mistakes, but no dishonesty, in Saad’s work and the conclusions of a second investigation have yet to be released. The court, however, swiftly denied his injunction bid and a request to reconsider thereafter. As a result, Diabetes published print concerns regarding all four of his papers.

“In both cases, the courts decided that the scientists’ requests would deny journals their right to free speech. The decisions do not prevent the scientists from suing for damages from defamation, however, and legal action is ongoing in both instances”. But a scientist suing a journal to stop retractions is unheard of and researchers may find it difficult to win defamation cases against publishers in the U.S. as defamation charges have a high burden of proof in this country; “plaintiffs [would] have to show that publishers acted with malice or reckless disregard”. (Monya Baker, Nature News)

Mexico has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in Latin America with only one in seven mothers breastfeeding exclusively during their babies’ first six months. This poor record is amplified in a country where millions live in extreme poverty and drinking water is often unhealthy. In an effort to increase breastfeeding rates, the Mexican government has banned free baby formula at hospitals. But Mexican health authorities said that baby formula could still be supplied at a doctor’s request and would be available for purchase. Mexico’s measure follows the World Health Organization’s recommendations that exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond supplemented with complementary foods provide health benefits to babies that translate into adulthood. These recommendations have recently been supported by a long-term study in Brazil that involved nearly 3,500 babies who were followed up 30 years later. The research, published in The Lancet Global Health last April, found that those who had been breastfed the longer scored higher on intelligence tests as adults. They were also more likely to reach higher educational attainment and to earn greater incomes. Although breastfeeding was evenly distributed across social class and the researchers tried to rule out main confounders including mother’s education, family income and birth weight, experts agreed that further research was needed to explore any possible link between breastfeeding and intelligence. The large sample size and number of factors monitored, however, made this a powerful study. (BBC News)